1. Field
This invention relates to magazine follower systems for firearms and provides an improved such system particularly adapted for use in box magazines of the type commonly used for bolt action rifles.
2. State of the Art
Box magazines are often installed in firearms, especially rifles. Shells or cartridges are "stuffed" into a magazine box carried near the receiver of the gun, and are subsequently fed one-by-one from the magazine box into the receiver by operation of repeating mechanisms of various types. These mechanisms are most often actuated by a bolt.
A box magazine of the prior art typically includes a box with a magazine follower mechanism installed therein. The follower includes an element, usually referred to as a magazine ramp, spring biased toward the open top of the box. Shells are loaded into the box atop the ramp, thereby pushing the follower down against a magazine spring. The stored energy of the magazine spring urges the stored cartridges from the magazine box into the receiver as the repeating mechanism permits. The magazine spring in common use is shaped as a "W" or "Z" and is usually connected at one end of the ramp so that the ramp can be tilted. Tilting of the ramp is desirable to facilitate entry of a cartridge into the box. Care is required, however, that pressure be applied near the center of each cartridge loaded into the magazine. Otherwise the cartridge tends to tip within the box. If the cartridges tip beyond a very limited extent, they tend to bind within the box making loading difficult and interferring with proper repeating action of the firearm.